Comments on: Online Community Case Study: Rookie https://fixingsocialmedia.mit.edu/2020/05/13/online-community-case-study-rookie/ MAS S.67 // Spring 2020 Tue, 19 May 2020 20:52:32 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 By: Anna Chung https://fixingsocialmedia.mit.edu/2020/05/13/online-community-case-study-rookie/#comment-70 Thu, 14 May 2020 22:24:38 +0000 https://fixingsocialmedia.mit.edu/?p=860#comment-70 This is a lovely case study on a community that is quite unlike what we might encounter on social media today. It’s clear that the website has a specific aesthetics and limitations and is not necessarily aiming to reach a super broad audience — I think you summed this up nicely: “It was written for the community that knew where to find it and would be excited to receive it.” I’m curious if, over time, it became harder for Rookie to maintain their vision as the publication expanded and started to have a presence on social media platforms like Instagram. Did broadening their reach onto other platforms weaken the community they had cultivated on their website?

It’s also interesting how the community isn’t sustained through driving connections/interactions with other people directly, but rather, through creating a collective online space for personal growth and thinking. It’s nice to recognize that a strong sense of community can be shared without necessarily having direct interactions with one another.

Overall this was a really well-written case study that raised compelling questions for me about what constitutes an online community and how different design decisions can nourish a healthy one. (It also made me nostalgic because I, too, used to read Rookie!)

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